Fifth-wheel



(No Model.)

' J. BMERRIAM.

FIFTH -WHE'EL No. 286,464 y Patented Oct. 9, 1883.

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JOSEPH B. MERRIAM, OF MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT.

FIFTH-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters .To @ZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH B. MERRLAM, of Meriden, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Fifth-Vheels; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description oi' the same, and which said drawings constitute part'of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure l, a side view; Fig. 2, a top or plan view; Fig. 3, a vertical section; Figs, 4, 5, and 6, parts detached.

This invention relates to an improvement in that part of carriage running-gear conimonly called the Lfifth-wheel. ln the usual construction this consists of two hat rings lying one upon the other, their flat surfaces working together as' the axle turns, and unavoidably producing a great amount of fric` tion and resistance to the turning of the axle.

The object vof this invention is to reduce this friction; and it consists in the introdue tion of a third ring between the upper and lower ring, the said third ring provided with anti-friction rolls, which take a bearing between the surface of the two principal rings, p

the said third ring revolving concentric with the other rings, and arranged to revolve upon the same center, as more fully hereinafterdescribed.

The lower ring, a, is constructed and arranged upon the axle in the usual manner. The upper ring, b, is also applied in the usual manner, the king-bolt c forming the center orf axis upon which the rings rotate.

d is a third ring, of substantially the same diameter and thickness ofthe upper and lower rings, provided with spokes, or may be simply a central bar, e, as seen Vin Fig. 5, pierced at the center, as at f, to set upon the kingbolt, so as to revolve around the king-bolt concentric with the upper and lower rings. At two or more points through an opening in the ring d rolls, wheels, or balls g are arranged, each upon an axis radial from the center or king bolt. rlhese wheels g are in diameter greater than the thickness of the ring d, so as to extend both Yabove and below the ring,

y as seen in Figs. l and 2, and so that upon Patent No. 286,464, dated October 9, 1883.

Application tiled December 26, 1882. (No model.)

the under side they will rest upon the lower ring, a, and above the ring b will rest upon the wheels; hence the said wheels take a bearing between the upper and lower ring, and roll between the two rings as the axleis turned. Because of the arrangement of the wheels in a third and independent ring, the wheels roll upon the surface of the lower ring, and the ring rides upon the wheel above; hence the wheels traverse upon each ring but half the distance of the movement of the rings or axle, whereas if the anti-friction wheels were to roll upon the lower ring, as in the previous must traverse he full movement of the lower ring in turning, and must therefore, if of the saine diameter, make twice as many revolutions as do the anti-friction wheels arrangedin the third independent ring, as in this invention. The intermediate ring carrying the rolls is little less in thickness than the diameter of therolls; hence the space'between the upper and lower rings is so nearly full as to prevent dirt or obstructions entering between the rings to interfere with the proper working of the rolls. f

From the foregoing it will be understood that I do not broadly claim the arrangement of the anti-friction rolls between the workingsurfaees oi the rings of a fifth-wheel, the essential `feature of my invention being the intermediate ring between the upper and lower rings, and which carries the rolls inrecesses prepared for them, and whereby the surface of the rings is protected from dirt or other lfbstruction to the proper working of the roll,

What I do claim isrlhe combination oi' the upper and lower rings of a fifth-wheel with an intei mediate ring of equal diameter, constructed. with reecsses through it, and rolls arranged in said recesses to ride upon the lower ring and support the upper ring, the said intermediate ring hung upon the kingbolt as its center, substantially as described.

JOSEPH B. MERRIAM.

Witnesses:

E. A.. Mnnnrniiv, J. G. MERRIAM,

stationary-sagT in the lower ring-aud so as constructions oi'anti-i'riction whcels,the wheels Y 

